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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/23985676">the whirling ways of stars that pass.</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/bokurooar'>bokurooar (orphan_account)</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Angst, Angst and Feels, Book 7: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, F/M, Fred Weasley Lives, Heavy Angst, Hufflepuff, Hufflepuff Reader, POV Fred Weasley, Post-Battle of Hogwarts, Post-Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Reader-Insert</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-05-12</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-05-12</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-02 20:06:51</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>2,637</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/23985676</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/bokurooar</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>"You know, you always told me to never call you a Weasley unless we're already married, or when we're both 'unconditionally happy', as you would say,"</p>
<p> </p>
<p>"but I called you Mrs. Weasley the night you died."</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Fred Weasley/Reader, Fred Weasley/You</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>4</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>71</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>the whirling ways of stars that pass.</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>title is inspired by theory of everything soundtrack. this was the fred weasley fic i was talking about im very tired</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p> </p>
<p>"Evening."</p>
<p>"Evening."</p>
<p>"I, uh, like your suit."</p>
<p>"I like yours too- your dress, I mean."</p>
<p>"So...Hogwarts?"</p>
<p>"Hogwarts."</p>
<p>"Hufflepuff."</p>
<p>"Gryffindor."</p>
<p>"Oh. Trust me when I say we won't get along that much," A laugh.</p>
<p>"How so?" A chuckle.</p>
<p>"Well, first things first, some of you think we're boring, and some of us think you're obnoxious. Friendly, eh?"</p>
<p>"No exceptions in this situation then?"</p>
<p>Small talks were sometimes undesirable. Therefore it was strange how this one was not- it was clumsy in a way, yet constantly flowing even with all the awkwardness that one remembers being sixteen again.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>You let out a sly grin, "Unfortunately."</p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p>But as you may know,</p>
<p>this was how the world began.</p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <strong>-</strong>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Hyacinths. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>The blue ones mean constancy, the purple ones sorrow. This time Fred mixed them both. He managed to be proud of himself, forming an unlikely message of 'constant sorrow'.</p>
<p>But really, it's been a decade.</p>
<p>A decade since he stopped looking at forget-me-nots. A decade ever since he started hating them the same way he started to hate the second day of May.</p>
<p>"Where'd you buy them this time, mate?" George mustered the courage to ask. </p>
<p>"From a muggle shop."</p>
<p>"Risky as ever, are you? Can't blame you though, I think she loves them more than yourself,"</p>
<p>"Might agree with that," He heaved a sigh- a heavy one,</p>
<p>"She's a Hufflepuff after all."</p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>

<p></p><blockquote>
  <p>I remembered the fox. One runs the risk of crying a bit if one allows oneself to be tamed.</p>
  <p>Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, <em>The Little Prince</em></p>
</blockquote><p> </p>
<p>
  <strong>-</strong>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>"Fancy meeting you again, lass," </p>
<p>It was at Number Ninety-Three Diagon Alley.</p>
<p>"You haven't told me your name yet. Pulling the mysterious card now, are we?"</p>
<p>You rolled your eyes, pointing at the name of the shop, "Truth be told, I should have known you were a Weasley when I saw that ginger hair. Why am I surprised?".</p>
<p>"We're full of surprises, can't deny that. Part of our charm, really. You a fan of fireworks?" </p>
<p>A couple of flying lights sparked and dance inside. They didn't seem to stop anytime soon.</p>
<p>"Only if they remind me of flowers." </p>
<p>"What's that s'ppose to mean?"</p>
<p>A flutter of the eyelids, along with a playful smile. "I don't know either, Mr. Weasley." </p>
<p>You were about to leave, when-</p>
<p>"Oy, Miss Hufflepuff. You forgot something,"</p>
<p>"Really now? And what is it that I 'forgot'?"</p>
<p>A look of triumph grazed over his face, "Your name."</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Your lips moved the same time as the fireworks made their noise- a deafening sound that one wouldn't certainly hear unless they would chant the spell, '<em>Sonorous'. </em></p>
<p> </p>
<p>But you knew he heard you.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <strong>-</strong>
</p>
<p><br/>Fred didn’t necessarily hate Saturdays back then. </p>
<p>He rummaged through a wooden drawer- their flat was fairly small, but it had its own share of abandoned rooms. This room, however, unlike the others, had been used before. </p>
<p><br/>The eleventh letter. It sat under the former ones that had been read in their designated years for the past decade. The first one was read when the first night of the event befell, the second the year of the anniversary. All of them had the same conditions: torn at the corners and tear-stained at the bottom.</p>
<p><br/>His hands trembled a bit first: he remembered this, this familiar feeling being felt a couple of times, this routine being done plenty of times. </p>
<p>
  <br/>
  <em>Hello, Freddie.</em>
</p>
<p><br/>He felt his breath hitch.</p>
<p>
  <br/>
  <em>If you’re reading this, then I guess it’s already ten years from now? You must be reminiscing the time when you read the very first letter. I still remember what I said back there (don’t judge me, I wrote them all at different times), and I quote, “If you’re reading this- I might have failed to make it. But if I did- you know- die, I really hope you’ll read all the words written here.”</em>
</p>
<p>
  <br/>
  <em>Cheesy, right? I was still afraid of death that time. But enough about me, how are you doing so far? Is business going strong? Are the products still ‘real money-spinners’? Have you already moved on? Do you already have someone you fancy? Or, do you already have a family? I hope all of my questions have ‘yes’ as their answers. </em>
</p>
<p>
  <br/>
  <em>You see, Fred, it’s been a decade. Don’t get too hard on yourself, please. Forget about me if it’s what makes it better. I’m running out of ink now (stupid quill), Mr. Weasley, so I guess we’ll see each other again next year, yeah? I’m sure you already know the three words I want to tell you.</em>
</p>
<p>
  <br/>
  <em>Always sincerely yours,</em>
</p>
<p>
  <strike> <em>Fred Weasley’s loving girlfriend (lol).</em> </strike>
</p>
<p>
  <strike> <em>Miss Hufflepuff.</em> </strike>
</p>
<p>
  <em>Beaver.</em>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>

<p></p><blockquote>
  <p>So wherever you are I hope you’re happy, I really do.</p>
  <p>I hope the stars are kissing your cheeks tonight.</p>
  <p>I hope there’s a kite in your hand that’s flying all the way up to Orion and you still got a thousand yards of string to let out- I hope you’re smiling like God is pulling at the corners of your mouth.</p>
  <p>Andrea Gibson, <em>Photograph</em></p>
</blockquote><p> </p>
<p>
  <strong>-</strong>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>"Do you know of it?" You asked him one time. "The language of flowers."</p>
<p>"Only Hufflepuffs know what kind of thoughts a daisy thinks, beaver, I'm sure of it,"</p>
<p>"Very funny, and hey- it's <em>badger, </em>not 'beaver<em>'."</em></p>
<p><em>"</em>A badger," he explained, leaning towards you playfully, "Becomes rough when you provoke it. But beavers, they only make houses and invite you to eat and have tea,"</p>
<p>"Are you saying I'm not capable of defending myself?"</p>
<p>"No. You're softer than a badger, mate,"</p>
<p>"Well, my knowledge of <em>floriography</em> says that I should give you a yellow carnation," you crossed your arms, immature auras enveloping the two of you.</p>
<p>"Oh yeah? And what that does mean, o great weed-whisperer?"</p>
<p>"That you're a major disappointment, good sir,"</p>
<p>"Charming, very. Say hi to Madam Mistletoe for me will ya?"</p>
<p>You rolled your eyes for the hundredth time, flicking his forehead, "Sure thing, <em>Weasley.</em>"</p>
<p> </p>
<p>[There is only so much love a person could contain. It will fill up the heart, the veins, then the arteries, then perhaps the lungs; And perhaps they'll forget how to breathe with too much love in their soul, in their body, in their hollowed holes- that they become a supernova. Exploding, pulsating, giving flakes of light to whatever kind of matter they might encounter.]</p>
<p> </p>
<p>[But there is never too much love a person could give.]</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <strong>-</strong>
</p>
<p>Where do souls fly once they go to sleep?</p>
<p>Even wizards know not the answer.</p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p>A portrait was the end of the drawer, but  from where it sat, it was filled with trinkets and potpourris once.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>"You know," He said, but only his voice echoed in the empty room, "You always told me to never call you a Weasley unless we're already married,"</p>
<p>He did not want to see the framed photograph at such a vulnerable state- yet he was now holding it.</p>
<p>"Or when we're both 'unconditionally happy', as you would say,"</p>
<p>He clutched onto it as if it was a life force, as if it was one of the things that could prevent every disaster from unfolding.</p>
<p>He clutched it until those knuckles turned white.</p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p>"but I called you Mrs. Weasley the night you died."</p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p>Where do souls fly once they go to sleep?</p>
<p>Even wizards know not the answer.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>But a certain wizard used up one wish once, if the genies she always told him were ever real, or if the falling meteors the muggles hoped upon were ever true.</p>
<p> </p>
<p><em>I hope you're out there somewhere, lass, </em>he wished,  <em>admiring and painting those stars.</em></p>
<p>Even if he didn't really like Professor Sinistra's class.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <em>Wait, no, not stars. </em>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <em>Galaxies. With their own living systems. </em>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <em> With lots and lots of forget-me-nots.</em>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>

<p></p><blockquote>
  <p>I didn't know what to say to him. I felt awkward and blundering. I did not know how I could reach him, where I could overtake him and go hand in hand with him once more. </p>
  <p>It is such a secret place, the land of tears.</p>
  <p>
    <em>The Little Prince</em>
  </p>
</blockquote><p> </p>
<p>
  <strong>-</strong>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>"Oy, beaver."</p>
<p>"Oy, ginger."</p>
<p>There was a pause.</p>
<p>"Dance with me?"</p>
<p>His twin was at the corner of the room- winking at Fred with a glass of wine in his hand.</p>
<p>"Are you always like this?"</p>
<p>"Like what?"</p>
<p>You pulled out something small and white, as fragile as a snowflake. It was convenient that his waistcoat had chest pockets in them, for that was where you placed the flower inside.</p>
<p><em>Shouldn't I be the one who gives you these kinds of things?</em> He wanted to ask. </p>
<p>But your smile stopped him in his tracks- figuratively - once more.</p>
<p>[Mignonettes are coloured white. When giving these flowers to a person, one is indirectly telling them, "Your qualities surpass your charms." ]</p>
<p> </p>
<p>"Charming."</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <strong>-</strong>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>He had forgotten that his family was going to visit.</p>
<p>Ginny had him startled, but there was a guilty look on her face. "S'rry for barging in like that."</p>
<p>"S'okay, you've still had it worse whenever George and I would apparate, I'm sure,"</p>
<p>They both shared a laugh, almost as if it were the old days.</p>
<p>"Expecting a new one again? Did Harry ever give you a break? I'm gonna be an uncle to fifty children at this rate," Fred joked lightheartedly, with a smack from his sister as a reply.</p>
<p>"Don't be ridiculous now. Besides, we're expecting our first girl. Well, hopefully,"</p>
<p>"You've got a name yet?"</p>
<p>She nodded with enthusiasm at a beaming Fred, talking about the countless possibilities of names and how they planned to give her not just one. Then there was a bit of silence.</p>
<p>"Fred?"</p>
<p>"Yeah?"</p>
<p>"How are you coping?"</p>
<p>"Swell."</p>
<p>"Doesn't look like it."</p>
<p>"I just- I think she knew all along," He finally put the picture down, "That she won't be able to make it."</p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p>"Honestly, dungus, and you call yourself her lover?"</p>
<p>A male voice interrupted. And there was Percy, standing along the doorframe.</p>
<p>(Fred remembered months ago, when he and his brother treated each other as strangers after an argument.</p>
<p><em>"You died in another timeline, Fred." </em>He told him- "<em>i</em><em>f it wasn't for her you'd be dead by now."</em></p>
<p><em>"She wasn't a tool just so she could die for me," </em>was his answer. </p>
<p>There was this denial of being the reason for her death- yet he knew it was true. )</p>
<p> </p>
<p>But Percy was once again family, looking at him as if he was thankful for a chaotic bunch of seven siblings.</p>
<p>"Oh shut up, Weatherby,"</p>
<p>"Rude like always. No wonder she gave you a mushroom one time instead of a flower,"</p>
<p>There were chuckles and giggles to be heard from the three of them, inside a room that was once full of life, and is now a room full of life.</p>
<p>"I'm finally acknowledging it, you know," He glanced at them for a bit, wanting to see their expressions, "That she didn't really belong in this timeline- you were right, Perce. Otherwise she wouldn't have written these letters."</p>
<p>Percy looked at his brother with the most empathy, but he managed to let out a laugh, "Rubbish. She wouldn't have possessed a time-turner just for her death to be in vain. She knew what she was doing."</p>
<p>There was another quiet and solemn moment, and only after a familiar voice interrupted did it end. </p>
<p>"Those who claim to know love," it said in a warm tone, "are, by all means, bloody idiots." </p>
<p>They heard footsteps, and Molly was suddenly in the room with them. She kept Percy and Ginny in an embrace first; Then slowly she approached Fred, settled herself in front of him, holding his hands like it was a toddler's- a newly born ready to be loved by his mother.</p>
<p>"I will always be thankful to the lovely girl who saved my own son, for I couldn't have imagined losing a child of my own,"</p>
<p>And Fred  felt like holding the letters and the pictures and the forget-me-nots once more.</p>
<p>"We are all fools when it comes to love, Fred. Muggles and wizards alike. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>But it is love that makes us the happiest fools in the world."</p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>

<p></p><blockquote>
  <p>Maybe love is there for every firework, every birthday party, every hospital visit. Maybe love stays, or maybe love can't; Maybe love shouldn't. Love arrives exactly when love is supposed to. And love leaves exactly when love must. When love arrives, say, "Welcome, make yourself comfortable."</p>
  <p>If love leaves, ask her to leave the door open behind her: turn off the music, listen to the quiet whisper,</p>
  <p>"Thank you for stopping by."</p>
  <p>Sarah Kay &amp; Phil Kaye, <em>When Love Arrives</em></p>
</blockquote><p> </p>
<p>
  <strong>-</strong>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>"My parents told me back then," You muttered through icy breaths and puffs of cold air, "That someday, someone is going to climb the moon for you."</p>
<p>"What if that person's afraid of heights? Or he's physically unable to climb at all?" Was his reply.</p>
<p><em>That's a stupid question, </em>you wanted to tell him, <em>but a good one.</em></p>
<p> </p>
<p>It was the first ever skin-to-skin contact that evening: your freezing hands on his pale face. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>"Doesn't that make a lot more reason to climb the moon, though?"</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <strong>-</strong>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>The eleventh letter, surprisingly, had a very, very small wish scribbled upon the edges all along. It took Fred several months to spot it.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>"<em>The world outside wizardkind is a beautiful place. As a child of two muggleborns, I can confirm that."</em></p>
<p> </p>
<p>He and George planned to travel all over the British Isles for more expansions and branches, anyway.</p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p>"Hello there,"</p>
<p>" E'llo,"</p>
<p>An underground train was certainly full of strange people.</p>
<p>"What's a fellow wizard doing here in muggle London?" A female voice whispered, so that no prying ears would hear.</p>
<p>"What gave it away?" It took him by surprise that there would be a witch or wizard here, but he was too focused on a muggle map, planning to give up anytime soon. </p>
<p>"Weasleys' Wizarding Wheezes," She glanced at the suitcase he was holding that had a big 'W' on the front, "I remember being given Skiving Snackboxes for free just because I looked like someone."</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Was it a mistake to look up? Fred didn't know prior to that time.</p>
<p> </p>
<p><em>That's because it was you, </em>He wanted to scream when he did look up.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>She had the same eyes, hair, that spontaneous  yet gentle aura around her; Everything  and anything-</p>
<p> </p>
<p>save for the fact that she was devoid of all the memories Fred had painted himself with.</p>
<p> </p>
<p><em>And it's been ten years</em>.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>It was impossible-</p>
<p>"It was my first visit at Diagon Alley and the world of magic itself, y'know," He saw her pulling out an Herbology book, "Wasn't even at Hogwarts that time."</p>
<p> </p>
<p>He found himself wanting to cry. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>"So, Gryffindor?" She inquired, as if no Weasley was ever in a different house.</p>
<p>"Gryffindor. Hufflepuff?"</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Were the tears visible?</p>
<p> </p>
<p>"Was it the book?"</p>
<p>"No," He inhaled a puff of air for a second,</p>
<p>" 'Twas those forget-me-nots."</p>
<p> </p>
<p>There was a fervent want to yell her name over and over again.</p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p>[Remembrance. True Love. Eternity.</p>
<p>The reason why it all started. How it all started.]</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <em>You've kept me waiting for too long, didn't you, beaver? </em>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>And just when the doors of the train were about to open, he found himself standing up,</p>
<p>"Uh, miss?"</p>
<p>"Yes?"</p>
<p>"Can I- Can I take you out for tea sometime?"</p>
<p> </p>
<p>[Once again, once more, even how many broken timelines might it take. Unwavering. Always.]</p>
<p> </p>
<p>"Where to?"</p>
<p>"You decide,"</p>
<p>Unsurprisingly, a smile was her reply, "Only if we go to a flower shop."</p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>

<p></p><blockquote>
  <p>Did you know, that if gravity were more slightly powerful, the universe would collapse into a ball? And if it were slightly less powerful, the universe would fly apart and there would be no stars or planets?</p>
</blockquote><p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p>"Should I take that as a 'yes'?"</p>
<p> </p>
<p>What are the chances?</p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p>"Unfortunately."</p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>

<p></p><blockquote>
  <p>You alone will have the stars as no one else has them.</p>
  <p>And in one of the stars, I shall be living.</p>
</blockquote><p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>in case anyone is confused: two versions of the reader exists/existed in the timeline: one is eight years old and is not yet in hogwarts in May 2, 1998 (orig) and one came from 2008 to travel back in time. gonna edit more of this tomorrow posting this at 3 am bye</p></blockquote></div></div>
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